Kia Optima 2006.5-2008

Comments

Now come on Backy.Having difficulty finding a car with the options you want does not constitute a problem with the car.I will admit that finding a used EX is not easy.Maybe that is because that once somebody buys one they keep it.That is how I am with my Optima.So far it's been a joy.

Some dealers offer only the more expensive flush,but that is not required.I just get the fluid changed approx every two years by a dealer and my warranty is all good.That is more than is required in the owners manual.When I got my change at around 25K miles,they asked me why? They recommended changing the tranny fluid at 30K miles.

The poster asked if there were "any problems" they should know about. They didn't specify what kind of problem. I think that not having ABS readily available on a modern car is a problem. A big one. If you don't, fine. Can we move on?

I think that is a question better answered by a dealer.I assume that you don't have the receipts.Mike,no offense,but why would you buy a car that hasn't been properly maintained.As far as I know,the only maintenance that would affect the warranty would be the oil changes and the tranny fluid changes.That is only if those two units were to fail.Surely not rotating the tires(just an example) would affect your warranty.If it were me,I would do a complete service on this car, and thereafter faithfully follow the recommended service while keeping all the receipts.

I find that it shifts up a bit too early, especially when I slowly accelerate up hill. Usually I put it into manual shift and don't shift up till I get to 3500 or 4000 rpm. I might loose a bit of economy, but much easier on the valves.

1) You are buying the car from a Kia dealer. You get them to state, in writing, that the car is covered by the remainder of the 5/60k factory warranty. After that, it's up to you to maintain the car according to the manufacturer's recommended service schedule.

2) The owner had the car serviced at a Kia or other service center that maintains computer records. You get a printout of those records and verify the car was maintained properly.

3) The owner has hardcopy records of all servicing, showing the car was maintained properly.

4) The owner makes a written, sworn (before a notary public) statement that he/she performed all service according to the manufacturer's service schedule (not sure that will satisfy Kia if there's a dispute, but it's better than nothing).

5) Carfax shows all servicing was done (not real likely, as I've found Carfax unreliable in showing ALL servicing records).

Or,

6) You can't verify that the car was serviced according to the manufacturer's schedule, hence buying the car is a crapshoot, in multiple ways.

I'm finding out that warranty issues are an often overlooked technicality by a lot of used car buyers, not just Kia buyers, and if one is not careful, lack of due diligence will come back to bite one in the rear with an expensive and uncovered repair.

Was surprised to see the overall evaluation of the 07 Optima to be under eight, especially since it was quite high the last time I checked. Note the large block of extremely low rated comments, things I never see on the forum

All the really negative comments are puzzling. Seems to be many cars with multiple transmission failures, head gasket failures, starter failures, etc. But some comments are really strange. Like the one about the owner who had lots of problems starting at 42k miles, so he sold it, and "a month later" the new owner said he'd had lots of "insanely expensive problems" with the car. Which means either that new owner drove over 18k miles on the car in very short time period (so the warranty was used up), or Kia didn't honor the warranty for these problems. :confuse: Then there's the one where "Hyundai" refused to honor the warranty because they said service was not performed at a dealership. Uh, isn't this a KIA??

Also consider CR's reliability data has the '07 Optima rated "Much above average" (red dot) as of April 2009, which is about the timeframe of many of the negative comments (that issue was published around March 1, 2009). All of the engine and transmission categories are "much above average" also. The timing is... interesting.

I particularly like "Bev"''s multiple reviews. First she writes a balanced review, some negative but some positive marks. Then someone else posts a review with all 1's. Bev comes back and posts another review a few days after her first, this time with all 1's.

It's also interesting how some engine and transmission problems can affect a car's comfort, and interior and exterior design--those are 1's too. :surprise:

Either I have been incredibly lucky,or those are posts created by the NRC. I love my KIA and it now has over 30K miles on it.You might remember my problems with the passenger seat air bags,but once that annoying problem was solved,the Optima has been nothing short of perfection.I'll let you know if that ever changes,but all I've done so far is change the oil,rotate tires and one time change the tranny fluid. :shades:

Somebody posted that they had to replace that belt at 30,000 miles.I asked what the symptom was which made them check it.There was no reply to my question,so here I am asking other Optma owners again.Is there something I should be watching for which will give me a hint that my sepentine needs attention?

I am referring to the ridiculously hard to get to fuel filter.I had one service supervisor tell me not to bother unless it starts causing problems.I heard the same thing from a certified Chrysler mechanic who I know personally.Anybody have any thoughts on that issue? :confuse:

It started "chirping" and kind of squeeling almost like that chain sound that those old volkswagon beetles use to sound like. It didn't happen all the time, but once the car warmed up, it was almost constant and very embarrasing. I was surprised it wasn't covered in my 100,000 mile warranty. I didn't want to pay, so I had my husband do it for me. At first my husband thought it was the idler pulley, and it could have been, so he greased it and while he was in there, he replaced the serpentine belt for about $30.00. So actually it could have been the idler pulley, but just to be safe he changed the serpentine belt anyway. What ever the problem actually was, it never made a noise after. All is fine now, but Kia diagnosed it over the phone as the serpentine belt and was gonna charge close to $200.00 as I remember. Hope this helps.

This might be too technical a question,but does that idler have bearings or a bushing? I also would like to ask your husband how difficult it was to change that belt without having a lift.BTW my KIA is the 2006.5 model with the 4 cylinder engine.Is that the same as yours? Mine has over 31,000 miles on it.Of course,I do appreciate the reply.Thank you very much.

My Kia Optima is 2007 4 cyl 2.4l. He said it wasn't easy. My husband is a mechanic and he said it was a real challenge. Evidently you need a correct wrench for the tension pulley some special wrench. He didn't buy one and he doesn't know the price. But evidently you can buy one. He made one himself. This is how he did it. It's a real pain to do. He took a regular wrench, cut it in half. (guess it was too long) Grounded it down to an 1/8" wide, then welded it to a round bar 3/8" thick that needed to be 1 and 1/2 feet long. All this because he needed to work from above and make it fit between the pulley and the fender well. He also said he needed to make bends in the 1 and 1/2" bar to clear the altinator. He said it was real hard to get to and suggests you either buy this so called special tool or pay kia. For us it was a matter of principal. We didn't want to pay kia for something that in my opinion shouldn't have died so quickly!

it's a service in which they clean our your car's engine's fuel injector's. Blasts out any gunk and junk that may have accumulated in there. Improves performance and fuel economy. Pretty good idea to have done.

Our '08 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS is soon to get it's 45,000 mile service and if the dealer's package doesn't include this I am thinking I'll have them add this fuel injector service to the rest of the maintenance package for us.

I have read that with today's injector-cleaning gasolines, a separate injector cleaning service is not required, and can actually damage the car e.g. O2 sensors. I used to use fuel injector cleaner but stopped when I heard that. I've never had any problems with injectors in over 20 years of owning fuel-injected cars.